Rise of a thrash metal outsider

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine revels in hitting No. 1 just as he winds things down.

- BY JON WIEDERHORN

MUSTAINE says a hand condition will eventually force him to stop playing.

(NOEL VASQUEZ YouTube Theater)

After he woke up on a Sunday in early February, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine got out of bed and went into the kitchen of his home in Franklin, Tenn. He downed a variety of health and wellness liquids and supplements, then picked up his phone and noticed a text from his son, Justis, who works at the band's management company. It read, "We're number one!!!"

Two days earlier, Megadeth's self-titled swan song debuted at the top of the charts in Australia. It was the band's first No. 1 album there, and Mustaine thought the text might refer to the Australian chart position since he wasn't sure whether U.S. sales and streams for the week had been tabulated yet. He Facetimed Justis to touch base.

"I said, 'Good morning,' and he goes, 'We did it!'" Mustaine says, his words aglow. "I said, 'You mean in America?' He goes, 'Yeah!' And I could see the pure happiness on his face, which was so rewarding."

"Megadeth" bested country singer Morgan Wallen's "I am the Problem" by 4,000 units to take the top slot on the Billboard album chart. Aside from being the band’s first No. 1 album, only three other hard rock/metal bands (Ghost, Sleep Token and AC/DC) have hit the top position in more than five years. Megadeth is far faster, louder and more aggressive than any of those acts. Mustaine is revered as one of the pioneers of thrash metal, a subgenre that combines the breakneck velocity of early American hardcore bands such as Circle Jerks and Misfits with the precision and power of British metal groups like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The only other thrash band to hit No. 1 is Metallica, who has done so six times, most recently with 2016's “Hardwired ... to Self-Destruct.”